“People participating in neighborhood watch enjoy all the legal protections under the Constitution, as well as state and federal law,” said Novak. “That can include carrying a weapon.”
Jeffrey Dehan, a sergeant who advises neighborhood watch groups as part of his duties with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office in Washington state, says it is not their role to offer guidance on whether members should carry a weapon.
“We don’t advocate ‘should or shouldn’t,’” he said.
Carmen Caldwell, the executive director of Citizens’ Crime Watch of Miami-Dade, in Florida, said that in the wake of the Zimmerman case, some trainers and others were considering new safeguards, which could include background checks on prospective members and teaching about racial profiling.
Basically, just because you are apart of neighborhood watch doesn't mean you have to forfeit your federal or state constitutional rights. Again, him having a gun was irrelevant and he wasn't even going on patrol when the event occurred. The reason the (http://www.usaonwatch.org/assets/publications/0_NW_Manual_1210.pdf) says to avoid carrying a weapon is because it needs to work under 50 different state laws and also has no legal bearing anyway